DOCSLIB.ORG

The AMICA News Bulletin

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The AMICA News Bulletin The AMICA News Bulletin Automatic Musical Instrument Collectors' Association January/February 1990 Volume 27 • Number 1 The AMICA News Bulletin Automatic Musical Instrument Collectors' Association I'" ROBIN PRATT, Publisher 515 Scott Street (419) 626-1903 Sandusky, Ohio 44870-3736 Published by the Automatic Musical Instrument Collectors' Association, a PUBLICATION DEADLINES FOR 1990 non·profit group devoted to the restoration, distribution and enjoyment of musical instruments using perforated paper music rolls, AMICA was For January/February issue ................ .. December 15 founded in San Francisco in 1963. For March/April issue February 15 For May/June issue. ......................... .. April 15 POLICY ON ADVERTISING For July/August issue June 15 The BULLETIN accepts advertising without any en­ For September/October issue. ................ .. August 15 dorsement, implied or otherwise, of the products or For November/December issue. .............. .. October 15 services being offered. Ad copy must contain text directly related to the product/service being offered. Extraneous text will be deleted at the publisher's CHAPTER OFFICERS descretion. FOUNDING CHAPTER IOWA Co·Pres: Jack & Diane Edwards Pres: Rex Fritts Vice Pres: Don Ellison Vice Pres: Leland Zimmerline Sec: Rob Thomas SeclTreas: Ed Pousch ADVERTISING Treas: Lyle Merithew Reporter: AI Johnson Classified: lOC per word, $3.00 minimum for members. Bd. Rep.: Gene McGraw Reporter: Bill Wherry BOSTON AREA Non-members may advertise at twice the above rate, $6.00 PRES: Marv Horovitz minimum. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Vice Pres: Bill Koenigsberg Pres: Lloyd Osmundson Sec: Charlie Randazzo • See Bulletin Deadlines on this page. Payment must Co-V Pres: Jan & Mallory Geller Treas: Alan Jayne accompany order. Make checks payable to: Treas: Ken Hodge Bd. Rep.: Sandy Libman AMICA INTERNATIONAL. Sec: Brooke Osmundson Reporter: Don Brown • Checks or money orders from advertisers in foreign coun­ TEXAS NORTHERN LIGHTS .,,- tries must be drawn on a U.S. Bank. Pres: Ken Long Pres: Dorothy Olds Display Advertising Vice Pres: Richard Tonnesen Vice Pres: Don Cunderla Sec/Treas: Janet Tonnesen Sec: Tim Wheat Full Page 7W'xlO" $120.00 Rep: Richard Smith Treas: Robert & Katheryn Dumas Half Page 7V2"x4%" 60.00 s Reporter: Kay Dumas / Ruth Anderson Quarter Page 3 /s"x4%" 30.00 MIDWEST Business Card 2"x3V2" $20.00 Pres: Liz Barnhart SIERRA-NEVADA Vice Pres: Barry & Bennet Leedy Pres: Bob Patton • Each photograph or half-tone $8.00. Sec: John Fischer Vice Pres: Julia Riley Treas: Alvin Wulfekuhl Sec/Treas: Sonja Lemon • See Bulletin deadlines on this page. Reporter: Margaret Frazer Bd. Rep.: Ray Bauer • We recommend display advertisers supply camera-ready Bd. Rep.: Jim Weisenborne Reporter: Ed Baehr copy. Copy that is oversized or undersized will be changed PHILADELPHIA AREA CHICAGO AREA to correct size at your cost. We can prepare your adver­ Pres: Paul Dietz Pres: Jim Edwards tisement from your suggested layout at cost. Vice Pres: Dave Charrier Vice Pres: Rob Deland Sec: Bob Rosencrans Sec: Jere DeBacker • Payment must accompany order. Typesetting, layout or size Treas: Bob Taylor Treas: Elsa Pekarek alteration charges will be billed separately. Make checks Rep: Joan Pollitt Bd. Rep.: Mike SchWimmer payable to: AMICA INTERNATIONAL. Reporter: Rob Deland SOWNY (Southern Ontario. • Checks or money orders from advertisers in foreign coun­ Western NY) HEART OF AMERICA tries must be drawn on a U.S. bank. Pres: Gary Lemon Pres: Gerold Koehler Vice Pres: Jim Barley Vice Pres: Linda Bird • All ads will appear on the last pages of the Bulletin at the Sec: Janie McCleary SeclTreas: Tom Bode discretion of the publisher. Treas: Edie Aldridge Bd. Rep.: Ron Bopp Publication of business advertising in no way implies AMICA's Rep: Mike Walter Reporter: Willa Daniels endorsement of any commercial operation. However, AMICA ROCKY MOUNTAIN SOUTHEAST AREA reserves the right to refuse any ad that is not in keeping with Pres: Larry Kerecman Pres: David Oppenheim AMICA's general standards or if complaints are received in­ Vice Pres: Owanah Wick Vice Pres: John Daly dicating that said business does not serve the best interests Rep: Don Wick Sec: Wayne Fisher of the members of AMICA according to its goals and bylaws. Sec: Art Tarr Reporter: Wayne Fisher Treas: Don Winter )1fIIiJ LADY LIBERTY .''--- Single back issues of the Bulletin Pres: Paul Ciancia GATEWAY Vice Pres: Paul Manganaro Pres: Yousef Wilson are available from the Publisher Sec: Michele Manganaro Vice Pres: Deane Wiley for $4.00 each Treas: John Ellems SeclTreas: Carole Wiley Rep: David Nemoff Reporter: Jean Milburn AMICA International INTERNATIONAL OFFICERS PRESIDENT Ron Connor ,./. AMICA CONVENTION (501) 636-1749 CLEVELAND, OHIO Route 4, Rogers, AR 72756 PAST PRESIDENT Terry Smythe July 12-15, 1990 (204) 832-3982 55 Rowand Ave., Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3J 2N6 VICE PRESIDENT Robert W. Taylor • Do you wish to become a member of AMICA? (314) 875-6111 Write to Membership Secretary. 2508 Cimarron Dr., Columbia, MO 65203 Annual fee for U.S. members .............. .. $22 SECRETARY Mel Septon Canada and Mexico (air) $28 (312) 679-3455 Other non-U.S. countries (surface) $28 9045 North Karlov, Skokie, IL 60076 New and lapsed members add processing fee. .. $ 5 TREASURER Larry Norman (213) 538-9461 • Has your address changed? 17700 Avalon Blvd. #295, Carson, CA 90746 Write to Membership Secretary. PUBLISHER Robin Pratt (419) 626-1903 • Do you have a contribution for the Bulletin? 515 Scott Street, Sandusky, OH 44870-3736 All subjects of interest to readers of the Bulletin are en­ MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY Valerie Anderson couraged and invited by the Publisher. Every attempt will New memberships be made to publish all articles of general interest to AMICA Home (803) 791-1487 members at the earliest possible time and at the discretion P.O. Box 172, Columbia, SC 29202 of the publisher. See Bulletin deadlines on previous page. BOARD REPRESENTATIVES Founding Chapter: Gene McGraw Southern California: Mary Lilien AMICA International News Bulletin Texas: Richard Tonneson Midwest: Vincent Ricca Volume 27 Number 1 January/February 1990 Philadelphia Area: Bob Rosencrans SOWNY: Jan Drewniak CONTENTS Rocky Mountain: Larry Kerecman Lady Liberty: John DeParis AMICA Membership Application. .. .. Inside back wrapper Iowa: Alvin Johnson Features Boston Area: Sanford Libman Nominations " 3 Northern Lights: Tom Olds Sierra-Nevada: Ray Bauer AMICA Survey Results " 3 Chicago Area: Mike Schwimmer 1990 AMICA Cleveland " 6 Heart of America: Ron Bopp Q.R.S. Autograph Roll Master List part 6 8 Southeast Area: John O'Laughlin Searching for Lulu 12 Gateway: Roger Wiegand Texas Classical Musicians Wanted " 12 COMMITTEES Leonard Grymonprez on Band Organs " 13 TECHNICAL, Harold Malakinian Complete Welte " 14 2345 Forest Trail Dr., Troy, MI 48098 Conlon Nancarrow " 18 ARCHIVES, Bob Rosencrans 109 Cumberland Place, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010 New Merry-Go-Round Museum _.. _ " 19 Sound Board Repair - Tim Wheat - part 2.......... .. 22 PUBLICATIONS, Robin Pratt Random Restoration Rules ............._........" 28 515 Scott Street, Sandusky, OH 44870-3736 Tubing Removing Confusing _" 28 AUDIO-VISUAL, Harold Malakinian Duo-Art Pneumatic Springs 29 2345 Forest Trail Dr., Troy, MI48098 CONVENTION COORDINATOR, Liz Barnhart Departments 919 Lantern Glow Trail, Dayton, OH 45431 A Note from The President ....................." 2 HONORARY MEMBERS, Dorothy Bromage Publisher's Note " 2 157 School Street, Gorham, ME 04038-1026 Special Roll 12 People " 17 AFFILIATED SOCIETIES & ORGANIZATIONS- See May/June 1989 for addresses The Collections 20 The Player Piano Group (England) Technicalities .. .............................." 22 The North West Player Piano Association (England) Tech Tips _ " 30 Netherlands Mechanical Organ Society - KDV News From the Chapters 31 Australian Collectors of Mechanical Musical Instruments Classified " 39 Dutch Pianola Association Society of Friends of Mechanical Musical Instruments (Germany) -"" Front Cover: Contributed by Robin Pratt Smithsonian Institution Back Cover: Ever Have One Of Those Days? ... DISCLAIMER: Acceptance of articles for publication in the AMICA News Contributed by Robin Pratt Bulletin does not imply a guarantee of the accuracy of the facts contained in any article, nor an endorsement of an author's recommendation. _ 1 A Note from The President .. recuts. Now I am about as useful around computers as I am / A disaster occured at our around a piano with no spool box, but I am assured that this -- house that got me to thinking is entirely feasible. This system could even be sent overseas about the fragile nature of our to record music not available in the U.S. Of course not every collections and the steps we roll ever made is worthy of preservation, but if a representative should take to ensure our selection for each type of machine plus all great performances music is not lost forever. I had were preserved, it would give AMICA an outstanding library some Wilcox and White and be a valuable contribution to music history. I think this Angelus rolls stored on steel is the sort of thing AMICA should be involved in, and I will shelves and thought they stick my neck out and say I think the Board would consider were perfectly safe. Wrong! I some AMICA funding should a well thought-out proposal sur­ recently pulled out a roll, but face. Perhaps some of you computer people could get together, only got half a roll. It seems the local termites smelled dinner, maybe through Terry's network, and see what you can come bored holes through the wall, and were happy as pigs in mud. up with. We have long dreamed of a museum, which at pre­ It's a little hard to know how one should react to a bug that sent is not possible. However, something like thiS, with its small chooses Mozart for lunch but I called the company that has storage requirement and easy duplication would be an excellent a contract to keep my house free of such guests, cultured or start. not. They rushed over and did their thing and paid me my estimate of the damages.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Steinway Duo-Art
    CHAPTER OFFICERS INTERNATlONAL OFFICERS NO. CALIFORNIA Pres.: Phil McCoy Vice Pres.: Isadora Koff PRESIDENT Sec.: David Fryman Bob Rosencrans Treas.: Bob Wilcox 36 Hampden Rd. Reporter: Sharon Bartlett Upper Darby, PA 19082 SO. CALIFORNIA VICE PRESIDENT Pres.: Francis Cherney Bill Eicher Vice Pres.: Mary Lilien 465 Winding Way Sec.: Greg Behnke Dayton, OH 45429 Treas.: Roy SheIso SECRETARY Reporter: Bill Toeppe Jim Weisenborne TEXAS 73 Nevada St. Pres.: Carole Beckett Rochester, MI 48063 Vice Pres.: Sal Mele AMICA MEMBERSHIP RATES: PUBLISHER Sec/Treas.: Doyle Cassel Tom Beckett Reporter: Kay & Merrill Baltzley Continuing Members: $15 Dues 6817 Cliffbrook Dallas, TX 75240 MIDWEST New Members, add $5 processing fee Pres.: Bennet Leedy MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY Vice Pres.: Jim Prendergast (New memberships and Sec.: Jim Weisenborne mailing problems) Treas.: Alvin Wulfekuhl Bobby Clark Jr Reporter: Molly Yeckley P. O. Box 172 Columbia SC 29202 PHILADELPHIA AREA Pres Mike Naddeo THE AMICA NEWS BULLETIN TREASURER Vice Pres.: John Berry Jack & Mary Riffle Sec. Dick Price Published by the Automatic Musical Instrument Collectors' Association, a non­ 5050 Eastside Calpella Rd. Treas.: Claire Lambert profit club devoted to the restoration, distribution and enjoyment of musical Ukiah, CA 95482 Reporter: Allen Ford instruments using perforated paper musIc rolls. BOARD REPRESENTATIVES SOWNY (So. Ontario, West NY) Contributions: All subjects of interest to readers of the Bulletin are N. Cal. Howie Koff Pres.: Jeff Depp encouraged and invited by the pUblisher All articles must be received by the S. Cal.: Dick Rigg Vice Pres: Bruce Bartholomew 10th of the preceeding month. Every attempt will be made to publish all artiCles Texas: Wade Newton Sec.: Mike Walter of general interest to AMICA members at the earliest possible time..and at the Phil.: Bob Taylor Treas.: Stella Gilbert Midwest: Bill Eicher Reporter: Jim Brewer discretion of the publisher.
    [Show full text]
  • The AMICA BULLETIN AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT COLLECTORS’ ASSOCIATION JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2002 VOLUME 39, NUMBER 1 Mooluriil's MAGAZINE
    The AMICA BULLETIN AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT COLLECTORS’ ASSOCIATION JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2002 VOLUME 39, NUMBER 1 MoOLURIil'S MAGAZINE The Self-Playing Piano is It People who have watched these things closely have noticed that popular favor is toward the self-playing piano. A complete piano which will ornament your drawing-room, which can be played in the ordinary way by human fingers, or which. -'\ can be played by a piano player concealed inside the case, is the most popular musical instrument in the world to-day. The Harmonist Self-Playing Piano is the instrument which best meets these condi­ tions. The piano itself is perfect in tone and workmanship. The piano player at­ tachment is inside, is operated by perforated music, adds nothing to the size of the piano. takes up no room whatever, is always ready, is never in the way. We want everyone who is thinking of buying a piano to consider the great advan­ tage of getting a Harmonist, which combines the piano and the piano player both. It costs but little more than a good piano. but it is ten times as useful and a hundred times as entertaining. Write for particulars. ROTH ~ENGELHARDT Proprietors Peerless Piano Player Co. Windsor Aroade. Fifth Ave.. New York Please mention McClure·s when you write to ad"crtiscrt. 77 THE AMICA BULLETIN AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT COLLECTORS' ASSOCIATION Published by the Automatic Musical Instrument Collectors’ Association, a non-profit, tax exempt group devoted to the restoration, distribution and enjoyment of musical instruments using perforated paper music rolls and perforated music books.
    [Show full text]
  • Marquetry on Drawer-Model Marionette Duo-Art
    Marquetry on Drawer-Model Marionette Duo-Art This piano began life as a brown Recordo. The sound board was re-engineered, as the original ribs tapered so soon that the bass bridges pushed through. The strings were the wrong weight, and were re-scaled using computer technology. Six more wound-strings were added, and the weights of the steel strings were changed. A 14-inch Duo-Art pump, a fan-expression system, and an expression-valve-size Duo-Art stack with a soft-pedal compensation lift were all built for it. The Marquetry on the side of the piano was inspired by the pictures on the Arto-Roll boxes. The fallboard was inspired by a picture on the Rhythmodic roll box. A new bench was built, modeled after the bench originally available, but veneered to go with the rest of the piano. The AMICA BULLETIN AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT COLLECTORS’ ASSOCIATION SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2005 VOLUME 42, NUMBER 5 Teresa Carreno (1853-1917) ISSN #1533-9726 THE AMICA BULLETIN AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT COLLECTORS' ASSOCIATION Published by the Automatic Musical Instrument Collectors’ Association, a non-profit, tax exempt group devoted to the restoration, distribution and enjoyment of musical instruments using perforated paper music rolls and perforated music books. AMICA was founded in San Francisco, California in 1963. PROFESSOR MICHAEL A. KUKRAL, PUBLISHER, 216 MADISON BLVD., TERRE HAUTE, IN 47803-1912 -- Phone 812-238-9656, E-mail: [email protected] Visit the AMICA Web page at: http://www.amica.org Associate Editor: Mr. Larry Givens VOLUME 42, Number
    [Show full text]
  • The Leludion Story
    Carousel Organ, Issue No. 8 — July, 2001 The LeLudion Story Eve Crasse The Beginnings have been made by a grandfather for his grandson's enjoyment he story of LeLudion started with the crossing of the or a divining machine by the fairman's hands, following the paths of two people with a passion for mechanical music. movement of a figure's wand - up and down. The Cartesian TThe place was the first district of Paris - a chance meet- diver seems to answer the publics’ question. ing in front of an antique dealer who specialized in organ Cartesian Diver clocks. Both students were interested in the same type of music Best described as a toy for the junior high school laboratory, it is sim- - one was enchanted with fairground music and the merry-go- ply a near-floating object in a closed plastic bottle that dives and rises round and the other was fascinated with the mechanism that according to pressure on the bottle. It involves physical forces of made this wonderful music. weight, pressure, gravity, vacuum and water. Several years passed before realizing the workshop as it is known today but the chance meeting was the start. Being able to teach the craft of mechanical music as well as working with great customers all added to the experience over the last 25 years. The craft of mechanical music? In France there was no formal school, not even for organ building. You had to learn from retired professionals. Today it is different in that there is a unique school near Strasbourg (in the eastern part of France) where the apprentice can find good teachers.
    [Show full text]
  • A Nickel for Music in the Early 1900'S
    A Nickel for Music in the Early 1900’s © 2015 Rick Crandall Evolution of the American Orchestrion Leading to the Coinola SO “Super Orchestrion” The Genesis of Mechanical Music The idea of automatic musical devices can be traced back many centuries. The use of pinned barrels to operate organ pipes and percussion mechanisms (such as striking bells in a clock) was perfected long before the invention of the piano. These devices were later extended to operate music boxes, using a set of tuned metal teeth plucked by a rotating pinned cylinder or a perforated metal disc. Then pneumatically- controlled machines programmed from a punched paper roll became a new technology platform that enabled a much broader range of instrumentation and expression. During the period 1910 to 1925 the sophistication of automatic music instruments ramped up dramatically proving the great scalability of pneumatic actions and the responsiveness of air pressure and vacuum. Usually the piano was at the core but on larger machines a dozen or more additional instruments were added and controlled from increasingly complicated music rolls. An early example is the organ. The power for the notes is provided by air from a bellows, and the player device only has to operate a valve to control the available air. Internal view of the Coinola SO “orchestrion,” the For motive most instrumented of all American-made machines. power the Photo from The Golden Age of Automatic Instruments early ©2001 Arthur A. Reblitz, used with permission. instruments were hand -cranked and the music “program” was usually a pinned barrel. The 'player' device became viable in the 1870s.
    [Show full text]
  • The Nunn Organ Collection
    Carousel Organ, Issue No. 32 — July, 2007 The Nunn Organ Collection Bill Nunn hen I met Diane, she had a small collection of porce- ing Ragtime Calliope. I thought, “If it’s not too expensive…” lain carousel music boxes she received as birthday Well, I had a lot of fun with that calliope, repairing it and adding Wand Christmas gifts. For the next few years I contin- drums and a glockenspiel. That fall we went to see someone ued the tradition, once buying a music box with the name Looff who was selling a Parker carousel with a Wurlitzer 125 trumpet and a date of 1910. I thought “there is more to this than just a band organ. Seeing that organ was love at first sight, but the box that plays music.” So I searched for and found a book on owner was leaving for Florida for the winter. I thought about the history of carousel animals. We read about the talented that organ all winter and when he came back I bought one immigrant carvers and the different carousel companies and Parker carousel horse in pieces, the 125 organ and a carving styles. We were hooked. We said “someday we will get Wellershaus organ in pieces. We put the Wurlitzer 125 in the a real antique carousel horse.” A year later, at a garage sale, house and if you went outside to listen, the volume was just Diane found a little Herschell Spillman horse with no legs or about right. Diane’s dad came to see our new acquisition and ears.
    [Show full text]
  • UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    UCLA UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Performing Percussion in an Electronic World: An Exploration of Electroacoustic Music with a Focus on Stockhausen's Mikrophonie I and Saariaho's Six Japanese Gardens Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9b10838z Author Keelaghan, Nikolaus Adrian Publication Date 2016 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Performing Percussion in an Electronic World: An Exploration of Electroacoustic Music with a Focus on Stockhausen‘s Mikrophonie I and Saariaho‘s Six Japanese Gardens A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts by Nikolaus Adrian Keelaghan 2016 © Copyright by Nikolaus Adrian Keelaghan 2016 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Performing Percussion in an Electronic World: An Exploration of Electroacoustic Music with a Focus on Stockhausen‘s Mikrophonie I and Saariaho‘s Six Japanese Gardens by Nikolaus Adrian Keelaghan Doctor of Musical Arts University of California, Los Angeles, 2016 Professor Robert Winter, Chair The origins of electroacoustic music are rooted in a long-standing tradition of non-human music making, dating back centuries to the inventions of automaton creators. The technological boom during and following the Second World War provided composers with a new wave of electronic devices that put a wealth of new, truly twentieth-century sounds at their disposal. Percussionists, by virtue of their longstanding relationship to new sounds and their ability to decipher complex parts for a bewildering variety of instruments, have been a favored recipient of what has become known as electroacoustic music.
    [Show full text]
  • Bulletin Germany/Holland 2007 July 5Th Ð 20Th
    THE www.amica.org Volume 44, Number 2 AMICA March/April 2007 AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT COLLECTORS’ ASSOCIATION BULLETIN GERMANY/HOLLAND 2007 JULY 5TH – 20TH Tour Historic Germany and Holland with your fellow AMICANs. Visit Munich with its clock tower, Hofbrau House and many interesting attractions. See world-class museums with wonderful collections of automatic musical instruments. Bus through scenic countryside, with quaint towns full of wonderfully painted buildings. Shop in wood carving centers. Tour King Ludwig’s Linderhof Castle. Visit organ factories and private collections. Stroll through the Historic walled city of Rothenburg. Cruise the Beautiful Rhein River, with castles lining the waterway. Listen to dance organs, pianos, Dutch Street Organs and more. Enjoy the pumper contest, with contestants using Conrad Adenauer’s grand piano. There’s so much more to see and do. Applications will be coming soon, and you need to register right away….remember, registration is limited. Questions? Call Frank at 818-884-6849 ISSN #1533-9726 THE AMICA BULLETIN AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT COLLECTORS' ASSOCIATION Published by the Automatic Musical Instrument Collectors’ Association, a non-profit, tax exempt group devoted to the restoration, distribution and enjoyment of musical instruments using perforated paper music rolls and perforated music books. AMICA was founded in San Francisco, California in 1963. PROFESSOR MICHAEL A. KUKRAL, PUBLISHER, 216 MADISON BLVD., TERRE HAUTE, IN 47803-1912 -- Phone 812-238-9656, E-mail: [email protected] Visit the AMICA Web page at: http://www.amica.org Associate Editor: Mr. Larry Givens • Editor Emeritus: Robin Pratt VOLUME 44, Number 2 March/April 2007 AMICA BULLETIN FEATURES Display and Classified Ads Articles for Publication Visit to San Sylmar’s Auto/Musical Collection .
    [Show full text]
  • The Big Picture - Welte’S Instruments, Rolls, Recording, Digital Editing
    The big picture - Welte’s instruments, rolls, recording, digital editing by David Rumsey The Welte Philharmonie - or Philharmonic to most English-speakers - was an ingenious musical instrument. Its origins lay in both the pneumatics and acoustics of the ancient Greeks, to say nothing of their mechanics, hydraulics or music. In the 20th century, both the “Phil”, as it is affectionately known in some circles, and aeronautical engineering, brought human arts and sciences of using air to their zenith. Pneumatic organ actions were then transformed to electric actions although there was a later reaction back to mechanics. For the aviation industry it was seminal: aircraft now replaced steam engines and organs as the most complex technology known to civilisation. The many ages and stages between the ancient Greeks, and Welte’s early 20th century automatic instruments, produced a train of incremental invention. Each epoch found ways of making organs play and sound the way it wanted them to. That changed with every new aesthetic from gothic, renaissance, baroque, “neo- classical” late 18th century, through the romantic era and on to a second, “neo- classical” phase, in the 20th century. It differed from country to country, culture to culture, even language to language: whether French, German, Italian, English or Netherlands, organs were also expressions of national ethos. By the early 19th century, the means of controlling the aesthetic qualities of organ pipes had long been established by empirical means: if it sounded good, then that was the way it was done. Sounding good, of course, differed according to Welte’s original proposal for the appearance of whether you were a medieval Britannic’s Philharmonie on board Netherlander, a renaissance Spaniard, a baroque Saxon, or your language and culture were “classical” French.
    [Show full text]
  • Music Boxes? • Before the Music Box • Early Music Boxes • Music Box Advances • Changeable Disc Music Boxes • 20Th Century Music Boxes
    AMICA International Automatic Musical Instrument Collectors' Association AMICA Articles A History of the Music Box By Thaddeus Kochanny of the Chicago AMICA Chapter • What are music boxes? • Before the music box • Early music boxes • Music box advances • Changeable disc music boxes • 20th Century music boxes Part 1. What are music boxes? Webster's defines "music box" as a case containing an apparatus for producing music mechanically, as by means of a comb-like steel plate with tuned teeth. Pins set in the surface of a revolving cylinder or disk sound the teeth. Over a century ago, more people owned music boxes than any other type of automatic musical instrument. The mechanisms were put in jewelry boxes, windup toys, holiday novelties and clocks. Music boxes come in several types. Pinned brass cylinders lead, followed by disc. Punched metal discs and the rare pinned discs, tapered metal "cuffs" with plucking projections, even paper rolls and punched cardboard "books", all play using plucking action applied to the teeth of the comb. Today's music box mechanisms come inside many different packages. Designs range from children's motifs to cheeseburgers. They can be hand cranked, contain clock works and a cylinder or perforated disc. Music boxes are snuffbox sized to console scale. New music box prices vary from a few dollars to over forty thousand dollars. There are music box clocks, pocket watches, jewelry cases, water globes, miniature pianos, and humidors. Almost anything imaginable can be a music box. Where did the music box get its start? Part 2. Before the music box Some say that the Ancient Greeks were obsessed with creating mechanical living beings.
    [Show full text]
  • Mechanical Music Journal of the Musical Box Society International Devoted to All Automatic Musical Instruments Volume 60, No
    MECHANICAL MUSIC Journal of the Musical Box Society International Devoted to All Automatic Musical Instruments Volume 60, No. 2 March/April, 2014 October 7 - 12, 2014 at the Bonaventure Resort & Spa in Weston, Florida Meet The Collectors Open House Collection Visits Elliot and Rhonda Shumann have been collecting for many years and have a delightful collection of fine cylinder music boxes. In this collection you will see a Mermod Long March, a Nicole Grand Format, a Nicole Overture box, a Falconet overture keywind, and a number of chalets. Most outstanding is a double cylinder mechanism oil painting with clock in an ornate frame. Howard and Margery Sanford Bob Smith joined the MBSI in 1975. His , members for over 30 collection includes cylinder boxes, disc years, have a collection that includes a Mortier 101 boxes including a three disc Symphonion a key dance hall organ, a Wurlitzer 146, a carousel Mira console and a Stella, a grandfather organ, an Encore/Ramey banjo, a Capitol cu box type organ clock, an oil painting which contains a C, several pianos, and a one-of-a-kind midi accordion clock and music box, an upright Duo Art with a wooden conductor resembling Mozart, all of piano and an Arburo dance organ. which is housed in a lovely Florida setting. Come and enjoy our southern hospitality as you visit these fascinating collections! Arrive early and luxuriate in the beautiful Check our website www.mbsi2014.org surroundings of the Bonaventure Resort and Spa, for updated information about the 2014 Annual Meeting and be ready for a fun-filled weekend.
    [Show full text]
  • Mechanical Music Journal of the Musical Box Society International Devoted to All Automatic Musical Instruments
    MECHANICAL MUSIC Journal of the Musical Box Society International Devoted to All Automatic Musical Instruments Volume 60, No. 3 May/June, 2014 65th Annual Meeting October 7 - 12, 2014 at the Bonaventure Resort & Spa in Weston, Florida "Our Backyard Museum" - The Jancko Collection Step back in time as you tour "Our Backyard Museum", the collection of Joel and Pam Jancko. Joel and Pam Jancko started their collection in the early 1990’s with only one building to house a couple of vehicles. This collection has grown through the years with additional buildings to encompass displays of an old town, a war room, a saloon, a soda fountain, a game room, a log cabin, a service station, a bicycle display, a fire station, a cinema, a street scene, a farm scene, a street clock, a steam engine, and even a fort. The Museum complex contains artifacts from the Civil War to WW1 and features many innovations from this time. Of most interest to our MBSI group will be the Music Room with a wide variety of instruments, including an Imhof & Mukle, a Seeburg H, a Wurlitzer CX, a Double Mills Violano, a Cremona K, a Weber Unika, an Encore Banjo, a Model B Harp, a Bruder band organ, a Limonaire band organ, a Bruder monkey organ, an American Photo Player and a classic Mortier, as well as a variety of cylinder and disc music boxes, organettes and phonographs. Making its debut at this meeting will be their newly acquired and installed 3 manual/11 rank Wurlitzer Opus 1616 theatre organ (model 235SP), expanded to 22 ranks.
    [Show full text]